Passenger

I have drived all across Sweden on many different highways over the years, all across different cities and even along the Swedish coast lines. This is a very beautiful country to drive through with lots of beautiful forest areas, there are many beautiful smaller cities and i have to say there are some great resting places along the highways for drivers to stop at, especially near different lakes. Usually nothing strange have ever happened while i was driving through Sweden, except for one moment that happened back in January of 2016. I was driving down towards Gothenburg and stopped at a gas station in the city known as Karslstad. It was a cold winter day so i needed a hot cup of coffee and a hot dog as well. While i was getting gas for my car, a drifter walked up to me asking if i could drive him to Stockholm because he needed to travel to his brother. I told him:- Im going to Gothenburgh so it´s the wrong direction but good luck finding help by someone else. He got really upset saying:- Can´t you just fucking help me? I could tell he might have some mental problems because him mood changed very quickly. I was respectful and said:- Im sorry i can´t help you. I paid for the gas and got in the car, while i could see him standing looking at me from a distance. The way he stared at me was creepy. I understand if you don´t have money you will ask for help, i have no problem with that part. I just feel that this man could not control his emotions, because he got in a really bad mood quickly. Either way, i will never forget this drifter outside of the city of Karlstad. Speaking of drifters one of the best psychological thrillers ever made, is the 1986 classic film The Hitcher from director Robert Harmon. The plot is really simple but very effective. A young man named Jim Halsey ( played by actor C. Thomas Howell ), he is delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego. On his way there he pick up a hitchhiker named John Ryder ( played by legendary actor Rutger Hauer ), who seems quite odd at first. But that´s not even close to the real truth, he is actually even worse than that. He is a mentally disturbed serial killer and he want´s to play some disturbing games with Jim along the highway. The Hitcher is one of those psychological thrillers you can rewatch, and never get bored of. Really well made thriller with excellent acting performances, and this is one of those films you should own on physical media or own a digital copy of. Speaking of hitchhiker´s i finally sat down to watch Norwegian director André Ovredal´s latest horror film Passenger, that looked interesting for a number of reasons. Since i am a fan of André´s previous films, is Passenger a film you should see or is this hiw worst feature film so far?

Couple Maddie Brecker ( Lou Llobell ) and Tyler Gennochio ( Jacob Scipio ), are travelling in a van across the country to live a simple life, enjoying sightseeing and exploring different locations for six weeks completely. One late night while Maddie is driving along a highway, a car speed very dramatic as if the passenger is warning them. Maddie slows down to let the driver pass them by. As they continue their journey they see the same car have been in an accident and alarm the accident. The passenger named Lucas ( Miles Fowler ) is suddenly killed by the crash protection car pillow. But something doesn´t seem quite right at the accident location, as if someone else is there out there in the darkness.

If you have seen some of the previous films from director André Ovredal, you know that he is clearly a very talented director of especially horror films. Passenger is of course also a horror film, but leaning more towards the supernatural horror genre. I know that director André Ovredal have worked with a limited budget in the past such as Trollhunter. Even if that film did cost a lot more than the general Norwegian cinema releases, it was still made on a limited budget if you compare to big Norwegian movie titles. Passenger only cost around 15 million U.S. dollars to make and i love to see films such as this being made on a limited budget. We don´t need to make horror films on a 100 million U.S. dollar budget, when you can make really good horror films on a much more limited budget. And since this film is spending a lot of time along a highway it feels like a throwback to similar films of the 1986 classic The Hitcher. That film was obviously a psychological thriller, still you can feel a similar tone in Passenger as i begin to wonder if director André Ovredal might have been inspired by similar films such as The Hitcher. Let´s get into what i feel works well with Passenger and i love how simple this film feels, the plot is very basic and yet it matches well with the horror elements. When you think about how the film is constructed it is either original or different than similar films, but what makes Passenger effective as a horror film is the atmosphere surrounding this journey on the highways. What if you meet someone out there that could destroy your life completely, when you are just trying to travel? One very important detail is the religious undertone of this film. There is a connection to why faith is very important to have, since this Passenger is like a demon from hell and you need faith to fight against it. The Passenger itself is very creepy looking, with long hair and dark demonic eyes, and it matches the storyline pretty good while keeping a dark atmopshere wherever it shows up. The acting especially from the main actors Jacob Scipio and Llobell both give solid performances, where especiallya ctor Joseph Lopez as the Passenger makes the strongest impact. In general i would say that Passenger is a good choice for a horror film, it´s well made, have some effective horror scenes and the plot is actually quite interesting. Definetely a good choice if you enjoyed the previous films from director André Ovredal and if you are interested in reliigion as well.

Rating: DDD

If you live in Europe and want a physical copy of Passenger on blu ray, you can get your UK copy on the following link:

Passenger [Blu-ray] [Region A]: Amazon.co.uk: Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell, Jacob Scipio, André Øvredal, Melissa Leo, Lou Llobell: DVD & Blu-ray

Capture

Some people don´t want to watch older horror movies, they would rather just watch new releases and don´t even bother to see what titles there are out there from the past. I feel that is a bit sad, because there are some really good horror films out there to choose between. They don´t have to be really old from the 1980´s or the 1990´s, they could be just about 15 years old and still be really good. Well, not all titles might be brilliant, but still worth a watch for a number of different reasons. I could easily pick at least 8 movies during this time period worth a watch, but let´s just focus on one specific title. For example if i mentioned a horror film title released in 2011 called Lovely Molly, how many of you would have said:- Oh i remember that film? This is one of those horror films you don´t hear much about in horror communities worldwide, and honestly i feel it deserves to be talk about. The plot is pretty simple, a newlywed woman named Molly ( played by actress Gretchen Lodge ) moves into her deceased father´s house in the countryside, together with her husband. At first it might seem like a wonderful idea, but the longer she stays there, the more painful it becomes as old memories start to haunt her. Lovely Molly is a mixture of found footage styled horror film, combined with a slow burn atmopshere. When you know this film is directed by Eduardo Sanchez, you know that name have a very special heart among horror fans. The director of the 1999 cult found footage horror film The Blair Witch Project, and he actually use some found footage scenes in Lovely Molly as well. Im not going to say that Lovely Molly is as good as The Blair Witch Project, it´s not. But i do think the film feels effective from a story telling perspective, considering how thin the plot is and yet works so well. Lead actress Gretchen Lodge is really good as Molly, and she is actually the biggest reason why this film feels more creepy as she begin to change mentally, physically, emotionally, the longer she stay inside this house. If you want a good horror film to watch to prepare for Halloween weekend, Lovely Molly on streaming or physical media is a great choice. One of the horror movies i did become curious about that came out earlier this year, is a horror film called Capture from director Bruce Wemble. I found out about this film from a review of British film critic Screen Stars, and the story sounded like something i might enjoy since i enjoyed Lovely Molly. also set inside a cabin. Is this a great choice for horror film this autumn, or is Capture not the film you should choose and pick Lovely Molly instead?

Abby ( Kaitlyn Lunardi ) is a young woman and causing a lot of trouble in her life. Her own sister is even fed up with her. When she is chosen by her parents to inherint their old house, she is shocked but this gives her a chance to start over with her life. What she doesn´t know is the dark past of her parents, and what happened in this house while her mother had sessions with patients she was supposed to help....

Something i remembered while watching Capture is that this film is directed by the same man who made the 2020 horror film The Retreat. This turned out to be a great horror film from director Bruce Wemble and is a well made creature feature horror film, considering the limited budget. His film Capture is quite different from The Retreat and feels more like a supernatural horror film. There is almost a sense that this film could have been inspired by the 2012 horror film Sinister, since the main character Abby find old VHS tapes that´s been recorded for patiemts of a psychiatrist. This is the part of the film that´s actually interesting, what secrets are hidden within the walls of this house? What will these VHS tapes reveal? This part also reminded me a bit of the great 2009 psychological horror film The Fourth Kind with actress Milla Jovovich. Another interesting detail is the main character Abby, played by actress Kaitlyn Lunardi ( who i recognized from the horror film The North Witch, worth checking out ), and why i think her character especially work in this plot is that she is struggling with her adult life. She doesn´t really have any goals in life, she have no idea what to do with herslef other than party, sleep around with guys. Having a young woman like her inside an old house is of course not the best combination, especially when strange things are happening around the house. Since she is already struggling with herself, how much can she take mentally if she have to face something evil within this house? The acting performance from actress Kaitlyn Lunardi is good, she capture the broken soul of the character Kaitlyn and make her look realistic. When it comes to the horror elements there are some creepy horror scenes in this film, where the sound effects help certain horror scenes become even more effective. I would definetely say that this is the best looking film from director Bruce Wemble, and his best horror film so far as well. It´s not a horror film without flaws, but i do think the story works better than i expected. If you are already planning what to watch during Halloween weekend, you should definetely rent or stream Capture on your list of Halloween films this year. A horror film that actually works, for such a simple yet effective premise. Let´s hope i never inherit a house, i might have doubts after my experience with Capture.

Rating: DDD